The Aftermath

The weather has finally warmed back up here in Central Texas after record breaking cold and freezing temps that spanned a couple days. I covered my plants I felt were most at risk, hoping to save them from imminent death.

The results:

The Aloe Vera - Alive! I wrapped this one up tight and it survived, it just looks awfully raggedy:



The philodendrons in the entryway - 1 Alive, the other on life support,but alive:

I cut all the mushy parts off; and the one nearest the doorway, that was mostly sheltered by the brick walls, will recover:



The other one was at the outside edge of the entryway and got the brunt of the cold. I thought it was dead, but if you look very, very closely, you will see a green spike poking up from the rootball. I am crossing my fingers it comes back:



The Potted Palm: Verdict not in. It is looking not so good for the potted palm. It was wrapped up tight, but since it was in a pot, I think it still got too cold for it. I will have to wait and see if it recovers or gives up the ghost. Notice the brownish-green color of the fronds. Eeewww:



The Sagos: Alive!! I *almost* didn't cover these as they are right up against the south side of the house. I am sure glad I covered them now! If I hadn't I think they would have lost all of their fronds. I used an old car cover to cover them up. It was just big enough to cover them all:



You can see where the cold got to them on their edges, but they pulled through:



The yellow-stripey Agave (I don't know what kind it was as a neighbor gave it to me. It came from Florida): Deader than a Doornail. This one is toast. Even the pointy center part is mush. I even wrapped this baby up tight. Didn't help. Hopefully it will send up some pups from the roots in the spring:



My my lemon tree also made it through unscathed, but only because I put it in the garage! Sure glad I did! I imagine it would have been dead, otherwise.

I hope some of my other plants survived, like my pomegranates and flowering senna. I won't know for sure until spring arrives.

So, 2 years of the most extreme drought followed by a record breaking freeze. It's a miracle I still have a garden to speak of. I'm about ready to pee my pants in anticipation of what Spring has in store. Probably a record flood of some sort and some tornadoes and giant hail. It is an El-Nino year after all.